THE BOOK OF JAMES
(The Pride of Man/The Sovereignty of God - July 3, 2023)
Series Big Idea: "Genuine Christian faith is proven true through action"
Sermon Big Idea: “Presumption leads to pride and pride is evil"
Key Scripture (James 4:13-17)
One of the most profound statements that is made in the entire Bible concerning God’s sovereignty and man’s pride is in our passage. Please remember the context in which this passage lies. It is sandwiched between (James 4:8-12), which is about humility or doing away with pride and being humble, and (James 5:1-4). James comes down hard on his reader's pride in verse 12 when James says, “Who are you to judge.”
Then on the back end of the passage in (James 5:1-4), we see the same words “Come now,” that we see in our passage today. This is the only place in James where this word occurs. James is angry at the rich who have abused their power over those under them. Let’s read today’s text.
(James 4:13-17)
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.
So, what is the problem with what these people said? Verse 13 seems innocent enough, doesn’t it? Well, not actually. We see presumption in this verse. First, these people say, “Today or tomorrow,” so they are presuming that they are in charge of when they will do things. They say, “We will travel,” which is presuming they oversee where they go. The remainder of the verse is presumptuous as well when they say, “to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” They are presuming to be in control of their destination, in control of how long they will stay, what they will do, and even if they will be successful or not. My friends, this kind of talk is presumptuous. And James says in verse 16, they are boasting in their arrogance.
Are these people missing something? Yes, they are. James says in verse 14, “You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring.” The reality is they don’t understand life and they don’t understand God. So, what is life? James says it is “smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” He is saying that life is short. Life is fragile. Life is not in our control. When our life on this earth is gone it is gone.
The main thrust in this entire passage is seen in verse 15. He says these people really don’t know the Lord. “Instead, you should say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” Simply put, you may head in the direction of such and such a place to do something, then have an accident and die, if the Lord wills. But we may not have an accident and die if the Lord wills and so we will arrive at our destination.
“Live” is a powerful word here. James says you don’t know about life. It isn’t just because you don’t know how short, fragile, and out of our control it is, you don’t understand life because life is completely in God’s hands. Every breath we take, the Lord decides. God created us and He is sustaining us. (Job 1:21) “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” It is a testimony to the total sovereignty of God over our lives.
Conclusion:
“If the Lord wills” we may do “this or that” (verse 15), we may travel, do business, and make a profit. It is God’s will that decides whether we do “this or that.” Not just our life but the things we do. Think about that. If we do “this or that” it is God who has willed that we do “this or that.”
Church, if we talk like James’s audience did in verse 13, he says in verse 16 we are boasting in arrogance. Why? Because it is presumptuous to think and act this way. There is nothing in the statement of verse 13 that says anything about submission and obedience to the Lord.
The word “evil” in verse 15 occurs only one other place in the New Testament, (1 John 2:16) “pride of one’s lifestyle.” It means that someone says, it is my life, and I will do with it exactly what I want. James calls this evil.
We are not God. We are not good. These are the roots of the word “humble.” We need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus. God’s one and only Son. Presuming we are in complete control is prideful. We will never see the need for the Savior if we are presuming we are in control.
Pastor Beaver's thoughts and ideas are inspired by:
Holman Christian Standard Bible
English Standard Version Bible
King James Version Bible
Christian Standard Bible
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Piper, John. "Your life is a mist" James 4:13-16, Look at the Book. May 4, 2019
Hughes, Robert B., and J. Carl Laney. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. The Tyndale Reference Library. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.
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